News for January 2010

As agreed by the International Association of Sanskrit Studies (IASS) at its 14thWorld Sanskrit Conference held in Kyoto (Japan), in 2009, the 15th World SanskritConference will be held at Delhi (India) from the 5th to 10th January 2012. Theconference will be hosted jointly by the IASS and the RSKS [Rashtriya SanskritSansthan (Deemed to be University under Ministry of Human Resource Development,Government of India), New Delhi.)

The 1st circular, including the sections and the conveners, can be downloaded here.

The Power of Tantra. Religion, Sexuality and the Politics of South Asian Studies, by Hugh B. Urban, paperback, London, I. B. Tauris, 2009, pp. XI+250.

The book is scholarly treatment of Tantra traditions in South Asia, based on reasearch made by the author between 2000 and 2008 in Assam, Bengal, Orissa, Tripura, and Meghalaya. It is notheworthy the complete absence of the Italian scholarship on Tantrism, which started with the famous scholar Giuseppe Tucci and is still well represented.

The new year starts well. North Korean authorities, in fact, signal that leader Kim Jong may visit China, the biggest benefactor of the country. The aim of this visit should be whether he will end his boycott of international nuclear disarmament talks. There is still hope on Earth!